President Muhammadu Buhari, while attending COP26, the global summit for climate change in Scotland, expressed his intention for energy transitioning from fossil fuel to cleaner energy resources in Nigeria.
However, the president maintained that an instance shift is currently impossible and Nigeria, alongside other African countries, still requires assistance from the West.
He said: “Nigeria is among a handful of African countries exploring nuclear power, with a research reactor already operational. And we can also learn from our friends in Europe and America who do not always practice what they preach.”
President Buhari also acknowledged the unequivocal human role in climate change and the prospect that Africa could be most affected in the coming years.
“Mankind has a duty to act on these dangers. But because of their seriousness, we must not do so rashly. It is an inconvenient truth, but energy solutions proposed by those most eager to address the climate crisis are fuel for the instability of which they warn,” President Buhari said.
The president also shared the challenges facing the country for the next 30 years with the forum. “Nigeria alone is projected to have the second-largest population on the planet — this ‘great doubling’ (for Nigeria, quadrupling) has the right to more dependable electricity than their forebears.”
“Without extra and stable power, we cannot build the factories that will transform Africa from a low-job, extractives-led economy to a high employment middle-income continent.”
